DA won't seek second trial in 1980 Braintree murder

Monday

Aug 7, 2017 at 12:01 AMAug 8, 2017 at 8:57 AM

Fred Weichel spent 36 years in prison for the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Robert La Monica, who was gunned down outside his Braintree home on May 31, 1980. He maintained his innocence for more than 30 years, and in April a judge threw out his conviction.

Fred Hanson The Patriot Ledger @Fhanson_Ledger

DEDHAM – When the GPS bracelet was removed from his ankle Monday, “it made me feel free,” Frederick Weichel said.

Convicted in 1981 of a murder in Braintree he maintains he didn’t commit, Weichel became a free man when the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office filed a motion in court not to take the case to a second trial.

Weichel had spent 36 years in the Cedar Junction and Norfolk correctional institutions following the conviction. He was released on $5,000 bail in April, but required to wear the monitoring bracelet and observe a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. curfew.

Weichel said he was shocked to get a text from one of his lawyers saying that the case would not be going to a new trial.

“I am very happy I will now be able to clear my name from this crime,” Weichel said in a telephone interview Monday night. “In many ways, it’s a big relief.”

He thanked his lawyers – Christopher Nasson, Michael Riccuiti and Patrick McCooe of K&L Gates – and the New England Innocence Project for their work on the case.

“They did a fantastic job,” he said.

At age 65, and after having spent more than half of his life behind bars, Weichel said he is planning to look for a job and a place of his own.

“I take things slowly, and I’m trying to get my life back together,” he said. “I’m not looking for much. I’m looking to be happy and freedom is happy.”

A longtime runner, one thing he hoped to do was go for an early morning run on Tuesday.

Weichel's release came after a Superior Court Judge Raymond Veary granted his motion for a new trial in April.

The district attorney’s office appealed the decision new trial, but Supreme Judicial Court Justice Elspeth Cypher denied the appeal on July 21.

In the motion on Monday, Assistant District Attorney Marguerite Grant cited a lack of evidence for the decision not to go to trial.

“Given that nearly four decades has passed since this murder, many witnesses whose testimony would be necessary at a retrial are no longer available: at least six witnesses are deceased; one witness is not competent due to dementia; and one witness is dealing with a serious health issues,” Grant wrote. “Also, the murder weapon has been destroyed and the crime scene diagrams on which witnesses marked their locations have been lost or misplaced.”

Grant noted the decision not to go to trial on the charges is not to be considered an acquittal and charges may be reinstated.

“The Commonwealth remains committed to retrying this defendant for the murder of Robert W. LaMonica if sufficient evidence were to become available,” Grant wrote. “There is no statute of limitations for murder,”

LaMonica was murdered outside his Braintree home after work on May 31, 1980.

A description by a witness was used to create a composite sketch of the suspect. The witness later picked Weichel out of a police photo array.

Weichel has been seeking a new trial for decades.

The piece of evidence which finally convinced the judge to grant Weichel a new trial was a memo from a Braintree Police detective that at least 10 guards at a correctional facility in Bridgewater identified the person in the sketch as Rocco Balliro.

Serving two concurrent life sentences for murder, Balliro was out on weekend release on the day of the murder. He did not return and was later recaptured. He died in 2012.

Patrick McCooe, one of Weichel's lawyers, said the legal team is “ecstatic” with the decision.

“The Commonwealth made a grave mistake when they originally charged Fred, they compounded it many times over the years, and now Fred finally got his justice,” McCooe said.

Radha Natarajan of the New England Innocence Project said the decision amounts to “some justice” for Weichel.

“It is disappointing that, despite the strong evidence of Fred’s innocence, the district attorney did not acknowledge this 36-year-old mistake,” Natarajan said in a statement. “To prevent wrongful convictions, and correct past ones, all parties involved must be open to admitting when, and how, something went wrong.”

McCooe said Weichel is considering “all his legal options” against the state for his years in jail.